The Nightly Z

Ten minutes till closing time on my first day as owner of The Lovin Cup Cafe.

I came in early this morning to make sure that everything was prepped well, to give my head time to acclimate to being owner, and to kind of savor the calm before the storm. Ten minutes before 8am, I ran across the street to the grocery store to grab a newspaper, a bottle of seltzer and a couple of bags of ice. The sky was gray and overcast and by the time I'd made my purchase and came through the automatic door, it was dumping rain. I had a choice of taking my brown corduroy shirt off and wrapping it around my head but I thought twice about opening the shop on my first day as owner and looking like I was hosting a wet t-shirt contest. So I stuffed the newspaper into the shirt and buttoned it up and sprinted back to unlock the door. All my favorite bachelors were on the porch, some of them vying to be the first dollar spent on the very first day in business.... only because there's been talk of building an alter to it.... a bling frame....the works. For now, it's nailed to the wall above the espresso machine. Thanks Bob Wright! I knew it'd be you!

During the one lull of the morning, which was just amazing and supportive and encouraging, I decided to clean my cash register. I scrubbed months of funk and grime off the sides of it. I turned it off for a bit so that I could clean each key. I made a sort of sweet love to my money machine in hopes that she'll respond accordingly. All day, every time I had a transaction, I noticed how good it felt to be working with a fresh, clean register. It being my first day as owner, I enjoyed every dollar I filed into it. In a few minutes, I'll pull it all out, count it and see how this how coffee shop thing is gonna swing.